The prime directive

[trsleigh]

to overtake cyclists at all costs.
I was looking through Ealing council's website at comments it has received about proposed 20mph zones.

This chap has obviously fully signed up to the prime directive,....
quote from his objection



"Seriously disagree with 20 mph zones, very dangerous as cars and people should be kept apart:

• Many cyclists ride at 20mph so driving at 20 mph means you are closer to a cyclist for longer while overtaking. At 30mph it's easy to overtake quickly and efficiently.
• 
  I drive through Richmond Park each week and it's more dangerous now since 20mph was introduced than it was at 30mph. I have to accelerate over way 20mph to overtake otherwise I often nearly hit cyclists who are too close to the car. It's very dangerous."

So poor fellow now has to break the law to fulfill his obligation to the directive. Oh well.......

 

[gavintc]

That is so excellent - I do feel so sorry for him. His brain cell must be so lonely.

 

[thomas]

lol! Some people just don't think things through....car doing 20mph in a 20, no need to overtake...cyclist doing 20mph in a 20...I have to get past....errmmm, wtf?!

 

[Goffins]

The stupidy exibited by so many drivers is astonishing; obviously practical driving skills are not the only thing that needs to be tested for these folk before they're given the privilige of hauling round a couple of tons of metal.

I remember I failed my driving test for not overtaking a cyclist in town, mainly because he was haring along at a fair pace and I didn't feel it was safe to do so, unfortunately my driving was then noted as non proggressive.

I think the only viable solution is to allow cyclists to fit gatling guns to their handlebars.

 

[Bollo]

cars and people should be kept apart...

So how will the cars move if people cannot go near them in order to drive them? Facetious comment I know, but it shows how some people regard cars as some natural phenomenon or force of nature. Typical 'king car' attitude.

 

[hackbike 666]

So how many motorists do you know who stick to the speed limits?

Answers on a postage stamp please.

 

[garrilla]

One of the big issues with this, and it stands the same for Cyclists who RLJ, is that they are incapable (or unwilling) to make a real estimate of the differential that this makes.

So for every mile of journey at which you travel at 16mph instead of 20mph - assuming traveling behind the cyclist for the whole mile and the real speed differences are averaged out - it is a cost of 45 seconds although reltively this is 20% increase on the journey time which is where the 'judgement error' comes from. This does not really do justice to reality either.

If we take the overtaking issue the same calcultaions can be done. Lets keep the cyclist at 16mph and the car at 30mph and that the distance the car needs to gain (behind to infront, safely) is approximate to 10 cycles, so overtaking gain is roughly 53feet (or 100th of a mile). As the cyclist is travelling at 16mph and the car at 30mph, it will take car travelling 53feet at 14mph 2.5 seconds. At 4mph, the difference between the car at 20mph and the cyclist at 16mph, this would take 9 seconds so a whopping 350% longer, but in reality just 6.5 seconds more.

So, any driver that can't estimate and then control a manouvre for an extra 6.5 seconds should not be on the roads imho.

The real difference anyway should be consider something along the lines of the consequence over time... so if you were to offer the driver just over 1 day of 'delay' over a lifetime of driving (6.5 seconds, once a day for 40years) to save a life as this is what it could cost or would you rathe get every where that little bit earlier only the really stupid would choose the latter. A similar calculation could be done for the RLJs, get to work 3 mins early everyday but riskyour life, or get there later but safely. Sadly, this is not how humans have evolved to think.

 

[thomas]

Many cyclists ride at 20mph so driving at 20 mph means you are closer to a cyclist for longer while overtaking. At 30mph it's easy to overtake quickly and efficiently.

He seems to not understand how things overtake. To overtake you need to go faster than the object your overtaking. If the cyclist is doing 20mph and you're doing 20mph you'd never be able to get along side the cyclist, therefore never overtake, which presumably is going to be safer.

I remember I failed my driving test for not overtaking a cyclist in town, mainly because he was haring along at a fair pace and I didn't feel it was safe to do so, unfortunately my driving was then noted as non proggressive.

You'd get one if there were safe opportunities to overtake which I can understand, if the cyclist was going under the speed limit. I got one for hesitation. In reality, I just couldn't be arsed to move as I saw traffic building up around the corner and would only be sitting in a que, rather than at a junction (silly idea really ).

 

[HLaB]

It reminds me of some of the stupid comments made about my last job. We implemented a traffic calming scheme demanded by the residents because unfortunately there had been a number of nasty crashes, a couple of these involved kids from the local primary and a fatality and the bad rat running/ speeding. Then when we were implementing the scheme despite wanting outsiders slowed down they were anti anything that inconvenienced them. I think one statement was that the central islands stopped him overtaking.

 

[Ben M]

That is so stupid that it hurts my brain a little bit.

 

[purplepolly]

"I have to accelerate over way 20mph to overtake otherwise I often nearly hit cyclists who are too close to the car. It's very dangerous."

The cyclists are too close to the car?


I need to go and have lie down in a dark room with a nice comfy duvet and maybe some cocoa.

 

[thomas]

The cyclists are too close to the car?

It's one of the draw backs of a modern car - a steering wheel that only turns 5 degrees each way.

 

[HLaB]

• Many cyclists ride at 20mph
  

Well at least he got one point right it pity more folk don't realise this.

 

[Randochap]

It is astonishing isn't it? Moronists seem to compulsively stomp on the accelerator at the sight of anything remotely looking like a cyclist. You could put two wheels on a breadbin, sit it on the curb, then set up a radar camera and record the mayhem.

 

[Black Sheep]

It is astonishing isn't it? Moronists seem to compulsively stomp on the accelerator at the sight of anything remotely looking like a cyclist. You could put two wheels on a breadbin, sit it on the curb, then set up a radar camera and record the mayhem.

please film it.